Folk festival brings eclectic music, artists to Butte

Montana artist Nakoa HeavyRunner is one of more than 20 artists performing at the Montana Folk Festival this weekend. HeavyRunner, who composes round dance music, has never performed at the Butte event that drew an estimated 170,000 people last year.

“I’m excited to share my music and the history behind it,” said HeavyRunner, who is Blackfeet/Assiniboine and lives on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

The Montana Folk Festival springboarded from the National Folk Festival, which was held in Butte for three years between 2008 and 2010. After the national festival moved on, the Montana incarnation has continued.

It gets underway Friday and runs through Sunday in Butte. All events are free.

“I think this year we’re hitting our stride,” festival director George Everett said. “People know what they can expect but hopefully they’re looking forward to being surprised. There’s a different theme and different things going on.”

This year’s theme, “The Culture of the Car,” will look at the ways the automobile has shaped Montana culture, economy and transportation. Antique cars and art cars will be displayed during the festival. Some of the cars are coming from the Montana Auto Museum in Deer Lodge. Informational sessions about cars and classic cars will be presented as well, Everett said.

The folk festival also features the First Peoples Market, a group of 28 juried Native artists who will sell their work during the event. The Montana Traditions Art Market features the work of Montana artisans who work in everything from fiber and recycled textiles to clay and earth elements.

The festival is quickly becoming an annual mainstay, and Everett believes its home in Butte is part of that success.

“It’s a perfect fit, our ethnic heritage goes back, our heritage as a railroad and transportation center and entertainment hub for the state of Montana,” Everett said.

The mine yards have even been adapted to hold the stage.

“The folk festival just seems to fit our community pretty well,” he said.

Artists are selected by the Montana Programming Committee with assistance from the National Council for Traditional Arts. Groups throughout Montana provide feedback on how suitable potential performers might be, said Everett.

As a result, a variety of performers will take the stage this weekend. Zydeco, bluegrass, reggae, gospel and R&B might be genres listeners are familiar with. But Kurdish tanbur music, Peruvian scissors dance and klezmer fiddle music also will be seen and heard throughout the festival.

“We have so many, and we try to have a wide variety of genres that everybody’s bound to have an interest in any of these,” Everett said.

Montana listeners may be familiar with HeavyRunner’s music. Round dance music comes out of the round dance ceremony, a social dance for Native communities. There is no regalia and little formality.

Round dance music includes voice and drum.

“As the music has progressed, they started using English words, and so it really turned into a modern art form,” said HeavyRunner, who grew up on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Younger listeners especially enjoy round dance music because of the use of English instead of Native languages that many young people do not understand, HeavyRunner said.

“Everyone can understand what you’re talking about. It’s social, love songs, funny songs maybe about breaking up with a girl,” he said.

HeavyRunner’s background is in traditional drum music. At about 14, Heavyrunner, now 35, got interested in round dance and began composing his own music at age 16. He released his first CD in 2003 and has done almost one a year since then, he said.

HeavyRunner, who listens to and is influenced by all musical genres, has even brought new instruments into the mix. A song might begin with drum, then stop and add guitar, he said.

“It’s more contemporary,” he said.

Everett said folk festival organizers have tried to choose a Montana artist each year and include musical representation from Native American artists.

He acknowledged that getting artists during powwow season can be a challenge.

“Nakoa is coming and participating to the fullest and that’s great,” Everett said.

HeavyRunner said he is excited to share round dance music with a large audience, but he admits he doesn’t often perform on such a large stage.

He also suspects he might be the first round dance performer invited to the Montana Folk Festival. Round dances are popular in Canada but just now gaining popularity in Montana, he said.

“It’ll be kind of the first time it has been represented, so I’m excited about that,” he said.

The Montana Folk Festival kicks off Friday and runs through Sunday. For a full schedule, visit www.montanafolkfestival.com.